Reliable and results oriented

Working as part of the customer’s design team from initial design to final launch, Columbia Plastics successfully completed an 8-mold project for a highly cosmetic bionic prosthetic knee housing within a 10-week timeline, and on budget. Communication between the two companies was critical since we are on different continents and almost opposite time zones.

Innovative solutions to overcome quality issues

Our customer had significant quality issues on the part manufactured overseas – i.e, flash on part, unreliable assembly and dimensions out of tolerance.

Columbia overcame these issues through superior mold design/build which significantly improved productivity and quality of the overmold. Furthermore, Columbia, working with a wire supplier, designed and developed a cold forged one-piece bent wire rod creating a consistent part and a repeatable/robust process. The finished ISO 13485 compliant product is packaged and ready for end customer use.

Utilizing technology to enhance the value stream

Medical housing with numerous brass inserts

To guarantee that every threaded brass insert (PEM nut) is properly installed in each of the four faces to ensure rapid, reliable assembly, Columbia Plastics integrated a 6-Axis Robot with a vision system in-house that can be customized to any part. This automated quality inspection guarantees 100% insert installation every time.